MEDICAL BILLING NEWS
Keep abreast of news and information on medical billing and its impact on patients and consumers.
Archives - July, 2023
A settlement between Carecube and the state attorney general ensures refunds for those who paid $100 or more.
- THE CITY
One way that corporate hospitals use acquisitions to take advantage of patients is by charging exorbitant ‘facility fees’ for care received at their doctor’s office — not because a doctor’s office now resides inside a hospital, but simply because the hospital system acquired the practice.
- The Hill
Consolidation of medical practices brings dishonest billing that costs patients and taxpayers billions.
- Wall Street Journal
- NPR / KFF Health News
Facility fees create confusion and increase costs for consumers, such as greater out-of-pocket expenses and higher premiums, the report says.
- Healthcare Finance
Mounting frustration with hospitals' billing practices are stirring reform efforts in Congress, state legislatures and within the Biden administration. But not everyone agrees on where to start.
- AXIOS
A pair of U.S. senators have introduced a bill that aims to strengthen consumer debt protections and improve transparency for medical debt practices.
- Becker's Healthcare
- NPR
- Maryland Matters
Even though most older adults have health insurance, they’re facing increasing medical debt, reports the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Older adults face a complex billing system with a high likelihood of errors and inaccurate bills, according to the bureau.
- Yahoo Finance
Undoing Health System Monopolies May Be a Lost Cause
- New York Times
A site-neutral payment system would protect people from hospital prices in doctor's offices and save billions of dollars.
- PIRG
- WFMZ
Millions of people still need immediate help navigating confusing insurance policies, billing processes, and a lack of clear communication. To help fill this gap, the U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Community Catalyst have co-authored “Medical Bills: Everything You Need to Know About Your Rights.”
- ConsumerAffairs
Facility fees are typically charged to cover the overhead costs associated with the operation of a health care facility, such as payment of staff, maintenance of the facilities, and administrative costs. Patients, however, are often unaware that such costs will be factored into their medical bills.In response, New York and Connecticut, among other states, have recently enacted and expanded laws regulating facility fee billing.
- Lexology
Absent action, patients’ trust is sure to erode further. And without the trust of the people it serves, this American health care system cannot long endure.
- KFF Health News
Despite the fact that hospitals have been federally required to post their pricing information online since Jan. 1, 2021, many hospitals in Virginia were not following this rule. A new Virginia law aims to change that.
- Dogwood
Bridget Narsh's son needed urgent help in January 2020, so she was offered the chance to send him to Central Regional Hospital, a state-run mental health facility in Butner, North Carolina. The standard rate at Central Regional was $1,338 a day, which Narsh could not afford. So, when a patient relations representative offered a discounted rate of less than $60 a day, her husband, Nathan, signed an agreement. But when requests for payment arrived the following year, Narsh said she was shocked. The total bill, $101,546.49, was significantly more than the roughly $6,700 the Narshes expected to pay under their agreement with the hospital.
- News-Medical.Net
Many of my conversations with patients have revealed a deep and disturbing disillusionment with our healthcare system.
- Los Angeles Times
The Biden Administration clarified that it is now focusing on some “loopholes” that have cropped up under the No Surprises Act, leaving Americans again vulnerable to unexpected charges.
- MedLearn Publishing
A group of 17 hospitals and health systems sued about 1,600 New Yorkers to collect medical debts totaling about $9 million since early 2022, despite efforts seeking to end the controversial practice
- lohud.
The bill is designed to prevent surprise out-of-network bills. It passed the California State Assembly and is now making its way through the state Senate committees.
- Public News Service
Insights for those in northern Kentucky who cannot afford health care costs.
- LINK NKY
Americans have nearly $200 billion worth of medical debt, and as healthcare prices continue to rise, that number isn't likely to shrink — still, many Americans may not realize that they are eligible for financial assistance after receiving their hospital bill.
- Employee Benefit News
An Aurora woman says paramedics put her life at risk when they wouldn't take her to the hospital of her choice. Emergency experts tell CBS News Colorado the city could be liable for her higher out-of-network hospital bills.
- CBS Colorado
A Virginia law designed to stop a medical billing practice that cost patients tens of thousands of dollars has slashed the number of disputes over medical practices’ claims.
- Richmond Times-Dispatch
While I'd like to be an optimist and say that America's healthcare system will suddenly stop gouging people in need, a better bet is to arm yourself with these expert-backed strategies for dealing with medical debt.
- POPSUGAR
Hospital facility fees are tacked onto bills for doctor visits. But why?
- Public Interest Research Group
An enormous medical bill can trigger a wave of panic, but experts say patients should attack the problem with a plan
US News & World Report
Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, introduced the bill in 2022 after hearing from patients and patient rights groups that many hospitals were not following the federal rule requiring hospitals to show prices as of the beginning of 2021.
- The Viginian-Pilot